Wireless networking refers to the wireless exchange of information between network nodes with electromagnetic signaling. Standards setting organizations, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”), coordinate, develop, promulgate, and maintain technical standards that facilitate implementation of wireless network standards that ensure compatibility between competing original equipment manufacturers and thereby seek to achieve widespread adoption of their respective technologies. The ubiquitous IEEE 802.11 standard specifies a Wireless Local Area Network (“WLAN”) technology, commonly referred to as Wi-Fi, that facilitates wireless communication between devices and often serves as a bridge to a network carrying Internet Protocol traffic. Wi-Fi typically operates at either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency bands in the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
In its first iterations, the IEEE 802.11a/b standards specified transfer rates of up to 11 Mbps at a range of up to 150 feet. The IEEE 802.11g amendment implemented various improvements, including Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (“OFDM”), to increase transfer rates to up to 54 Mbps while maintaining backward compatibility with IEEE 802.11b. The IEEE 802.11n amendment added Multiple Input Multiple Output (“MIMO”) functionality where multiple transmitters and receivers operate simultaneously at one or both ends of the link to facilitate transfer rates of up to 300 Mbps and even higher if additional antennae are used. The IEEE 802.11ac amendment added support for spatial streams and increased channel widths to substantially increase transfer rates from 433 Mbps to several Gbps and works exclusively in the less crowded 5 GHz frequency band and at a range of up to 300 feet or more.
The IEEE 802.11 standard remains an evolving technical standard and future amendments will likely seek to increase transfer rates, improve connectivity in challenging environments, and enhance security. As such, Wi-Fi remains the most widely adopted wireless networking standard in the world and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future.